So it was disturbing this week to see the online bullying directed at three local students for organising Friday’s School Strike 4 Climate event in Mildura.
Conor Pall, Ella Reynolds and Ella Beard are, by all accounts, exceptional young people who are leaders among their peers. They organised the Mildura event, joining a worldwide student movement calling for more investment in renewable energy, and spoke to Sunraysia Daily about an issue they are deeply passionate about.
More power to them. As they said: “This is our future.”
But, for daring to speak their minds, these local students were personally attacked on social media by trolls in their own community, many of whom would be older than their parents or grandparents.
It’s shameful.
Whether you believe in climate change or not, it is indefensible to take personal shots at anyone, let alone a young person in our community, for having an alternative view.
But sadly that seems the culture of forums and debates on social media platforms. It gets ugly very quickly.
Sunraysia Daily reporter Else Kennedy sat down with Conor and Ella Beard during the week to speak to them about the online reaction.
Their responses, which were published in Wednesday’s paper, demonstrated who were the real grown-ups in the debate.
One comment on Facebook directed at the pair this week read: “This is a case of breeding brainwashed f***wits. Morons who have no idea that the earth has been changing for thousands of years.”
Conor responded: “I think that using that coarse language to people under the age of 18 is just disgusting.
“You as an adult are meant to be here to help support the leaders of the future, not belittle and mock them for something that we think needs more attention. It says more about you than it does us.
“You need to take a long look at yourself if you think that that’s acceptable.”
Spot on, Conor.
And from Ella Beard: “It’s rather shameful, more than anything. There’s a few of those comments and none of them are appropriate. And that’s something we really need to address, because there were a lot of them. It’s really disappointing to see.”
Absolutely, Ella.
Friday’s peaceful protest was not a day off for local students — more like an hour.
And in our society, it was the democratic right of these young people to stand up for what they believe in, which in this case, heaven forbid, was a need to lessen emissions into the air and help our planet.
How dare they, hey?
Newspapers, by their very nature, tackle issues and engage in debates every day.
As an editor, I have agreed to disagree with many people over time, certainly many politicians, but never resorted to name-calling or personal attacks. In football parlance, I follow a simple rule of thumb to play the ball, not the man.
It’s called respect.
Like many parents, I fear the impact of online bullying as my children grow up, so I can only imagine what the parents of Conor, Ella and Ella must have felt in the face of the attacks this week.
But these high school students maintained their dignity and demonstrated maturity throughout. They gave a lesson in acting with class.
Some adults in this community would do well to learn from them.
